[Context Menu]

• When right clicking on a .exe, .bat, or .cmd file, the context menu’s “Open” verb will now match the icon associated with the file’s default app.

[Settings]

Device Cards:

• Previously released to WIP channels June 2025, the ‘Device info’ Card on the Settings Home page has been refined based on early learnings. This update simplifies key device specifications and improves consistency across the end to end flow from the Home Card to the Settings > System > About page, making information easier to scan and understand. This consumer experience is currently rolling out to Insiders in the United States.

  

   

• A version of the Device info Card intended for enterprise users on IT managed devices continues to be available.
• In Settings > System > About, based on early customer feedback, key device hardware details are once again prominently displayed at the top of the page, making it easy to understand your device at a glance. The Device information section now brings together additional system details such as graphics and storage information in a single location, with easy copy/paste support to simplify sharing or support scenarios. Device related frequently asked questions are not currently surfaced as we continue iterating the best way to deliver contextual help across Settings.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

• We have improved the animations for mousing over app groups on the taskbar.

The Dev build has a couple of extra changes that are not available in the Beta build:

[Taskbar & System Tray]

• Improved reliability of showing app icons in the system tray when the taskbar was set to autohide.

[File Explorer]

• Addressed an issue where all File Explorer open windows and tabs might unexpectedly jump to Desktop or Home.

[Nearby Sharing]

• Improved the reliability of sending larger files using nearby sharing.

You can find the announcement post here (Dev build) and here (Beta build).

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Posted Saturday 21 February 2026 at 6:22 am AEST (my time).

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With freeform rotate, you can rotate a selection to any degree. Previously, Paint would only let you rotate a selected area by 90 or 180 degrees. Now, at long last, you can highlight something and then rotate it with a handle. Here is how Microsoft describes the change:

With Paint version 11.2601.391.0, we’re excited to introduce freeform rotate, a highly requested feature that gives you more control when editing your artwork. You can now rotate shapes, text, and any active selection to any angle. To get started, open Paint and select a shape, text, or selection. When the object is active, use the rotate handle above it to rotate freely in any direction. For more precise control, you can also choose Custom rotate from the Rotate menu and enter a specific angle. Try using freeform rotate in your artwork to adjust elements exactly the way you want and add more flexibility to your creative workflow.

And here is the feature in action:

Freeform rotate in Paint is now rolling out to Windows Insiders in the Dev and Canary Channel. However, if you do not want to wait for Microsoft to release the update to all users, you can get the necessary msix bundle file from the store.rg-adguard.net website and then install it manually.

In other news, Microsoft recently updated Paint with a new AI-powered feature that lets you generate coloring books.

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Posted Saturday 21 February 2026 at 6:21 am AEST (my time).

News posts: 2023 5,800+ | 2024 5,700+ | 2025 5,700+ | 2026 (to end of January) 461

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One of the changes to Notepad was a "What is new" interface that showcases the latest additions to the app and its new features. Users noticed that recent Notepad updates for Windows Insiders introduced new screenshots for the "What is new" section. Those screenshots include what looks like an image button that should let you insert images into your text documents.

Here is what the updated section looks like in the latest updates:

What Microsoft is doing to Notepad is not welcomed by everyone. Some users openly express their discontent with Microsoft's strategy, while others simply left for alternatives altogether (some solid options to consider include the famous Notepad++ or QuickPad from the Microsoft Store), claiming the company has lost the plot. Notepad used to be a super-simple, reliable app for the most basic text editing (was very handy for developers and enthusiasts), keeping WordPad, Word, and OneNote for those who need more features. Now, Notepad is full of rich text editing features and AI, the opposite of its original purpose.

Microsoft has not announced image support in Notepad yet, so look out for an announcement in the near future, assuming it will actually arrive. Meanwhile, share your thoughts in the comment section about whether you like what Microsoft is doing to Notepad or not.

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Posted Saturday 21 February 2026 at 6:19 am AEST (my time).

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Starting with Edge version 150, Microsoft will pull the plug on macOS 12 Monterey. It will be the final major update on the operating system from 2021, and going forward, Mac users who want to continue receiving feature and security updates should update to a newer macOS release, as Edge 151 and newer will only work on macOS 13 Ventura and newer:

Microsoft Edge supported Operating Systems for macOS. Edge version 150 is currently planned to be the last release that supports macOS 12 (Monterey). Under this plan, Edge version 151 or later would require macOS 13 (Ventura) or later.

For reference, Microsoft ended Edge support on macOS 11 Big Sur in version 138. As for Windows, although Windows 10 is no longer supported, Microsoft has no plans to discontinue Edge support for now.

The official Microsoft Edge release schedule currently has no specific date for version 150, but given that the browser receives feature updates every four weeks in the Stable Channel, you can expect version 150 to arrive for all users somewhere in June or July.

As for changes and new features in Edge 146, which is now available for all to try in the Beta Channel, it includes a reworked new tab page for enterprise users, improvements to tracking prevention in InPrivate, and more. Additionally, Microsoft changed how the "Delete all data" works by removing the browser's ability to delete passwords alongside history, cookies, and more. Microsoft says this behavior was confusing to users and caused a lot of unintentionally deleted passwords.

You can find the complete changelog in the official documentation. If you are curious to give Microsoft Edge Beta a try, head to the official Edge Insider website.

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Posted Saturday 21 February 2026 at 6:14 am AEST (my time).

News posts: 2023 5,800+ | 2024 5,700+ | 2025 5,700+ | 2026 (to end of January) 461

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Microsoft may have just created a new term, though I doubt it would want credit for the feat. The tech giant "morged" a diagram as part of a "careless" and "blatantly amateuristic" attempt to rip off a graphic created over a decade ago.

Vincent Driessen, a software engineer, playfully claimed that Microsoft "morged" his diagram after it was discovered AI was used to poorly plagiarize a graphic.

"Bugfixes from rel, branch may be continvoucly morged back into develop" read the diagram that appeared on the official GitHub page that explains GitHub Flow.

That diagram has since been removed, but you can find it on the Internet Archive.

Driessen, who detailed the saga in a blog post, first shared a diagram about a Git branching model over 15 years ago. He later published the source file, allowing people to expand on the diagram.

The software engineer was happy to have the diagram reused and expanded upon and shared with attribution in blog posts, wikis, YouTube videos, and elsewhere in the name of sharing knowledge. What surprised Driessen was that Microsoft used AI to recreate a worse version of the diagram and shared that graphic without mentioning Driessen at all.

"The AI rip-off was not just ugly. It was careless, blatantly amateuristic, and lacking any ambition, to put it gently. Microsoft unworthy," said Driessen. "The carefully crafted visual language and layout of the original, the branch colors, the lane design, the dot and bubble alignment that made the original so readable—all of it had been muddled into a laughable form. Proper AI slop."

According to a notice posted in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, Microsoft is retiring the Contact Masking capability in Outlook. If you're unaware what that is, that is precisely one of the reasons why Microsoft is getting rid of this feature.

In a nutshell, Contact Masking is the experience which involves the suggested recipients in the To/Cc/Bcc line as you begin typing. Clicking on the "X" icon next to the name hides this contact as a suggestion in future communications, thereby "masking" the contact. This experience encompasses other services in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem too, as masked contacts are also removed from Teams, Microsoft 365 Search, and more.

Although customers do have the option to unhide the contact within five seconds through a prompt shown in Outlook, Microsoft says that the experience is too confusing overall in terms of implications to make it worthwhile. The company's decision to retire Contact Masking altogether is due to customer feedback and escalations that have resulted due to this feature in the past years.

Contact Masking is being retired on March 31, 2026 for all Outlook users across desktop, mobile, and the web. Admins have no control over this disablement, but are advised to update internal documentation and train users regarding this change, if required. Following the retirement of Contact Masking next month, contacts that were previously hidden will now begin showing up in Microsoft 365 services too. Microsoft has emphasized that there will be no replacement for Contact Masking and this disablement makes cross-app behavior consistent because it was applied across various services even though it was not a suite-level configuration for contacts.

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Posted Friday 20 February 2026 at 12:15 pm AEST (my time).

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This change takes effect in April, when users will essentially be left without a way of accessing Messenger on PC. If you visit the Messenger website, you’ll be redirected to facebook.com/messages, which is part of the standard Facebook website. Meta is also informing users about the change via a notice on the Messenger website.

Once Meta retires the website, Messenger will only be available as an app for iOS and Android. Nothing inside Messenger will change, as all your conversations will remain available, just not on the web.

This is especially bad news for people who currently use Messenger without a Facebook account. They’ll have a choice to either reactivate their Facebook accounts or stick with the mobile app. To be fair, the Messages section of Facebook essentially provides the same experience as Messenger, but it requires an active Facebook account, at which point you might be better off using the standard website.

Meta hasn’t publicly disclosed what prompted this decision, as it only published a page on Facebook Help Centre about it. Reports around the web say it’s because the company wants to consolidate its services and streamline the number of platforms it manages. The decline in use probably contributed to it, as most users have already abandoned it for the mobile version.

Still, it’s hard to grasp that a website that’s essentially a wrapper for the Messenger service consumes a significant portion of Meta’s resources. So, the decision probably wasn’t of a financial nature, and simply means the company doesn’t want to bother with a dying website.

On a related note, as Meta retires the last iteration of Messenger available on PC, it introduces more features for WhatsApp web, including voice and video calls. So maybe now is the time to make a switch, if you’re used to primarily communicating with people on your PC. You won’t be leaving the Meta ecosystem anyway.

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Posted Friday 20 February 2026 at 12:13 pm AEST (my time).

News posts: 2023 5,800+ | 2024 5,700+ | 2025 5,700+ | 2026 (to end of January) 461

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First off, we have Split view, which does exactly what it says on the tin. Rather than maintaining and jumping through different tabs or windows, Split view allows you to view two tabs simultaneously. This reduces the need to switch contexts constantly and increases productivity, especially if you open two related tabs side-by-side. An obvious use-case for this involves students who have a lecture open on YouTube in one tab and Google Docs for note-taking in the other.

Next, Chrome finally supports annotations in the built-in PDF viewer. You can choose between different types of pens and colors as you annotate a document, without needing to download a dedicated application.

Finally, Chrome is offering a new option for PDFs downloaded on your device. You can simply use the "Save to Google Drive" option in the controls at the top of the PDF to upload the document directly to the "Saved from Chrome" directory in your Google Drive. This ensures that the document is backed up and can be accessed from other devices too, without requiring too many manual steps.

Google has emphasized that all three of these features are not only meant to enterprise and education customers, but also for everyday users who can now perform associated tasks in a more productive fashion. Although the company hasn't detailed which version of Chrome contains these capabilities, it highlighted them as being announced today. We have them in the latest Chrome version 145.0.7632.110 on our Windows PC.

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Posted Friday 20 February 2026 at 12:11 pm AEST (my time).

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For starters, Microsoft has revealed a brand-new Activity Center UX on macOS 26 that is based on Apple's Liquid Glass design language and powered SwiftUI. The Redmond giant says that you'll notice that this interface is a lot more performant as soon as you open it by clicking the OneDrive icon in the menu bar. The company has highlighted the intuitive and fresh design, while also touting support for accessibility options like VoiceOver and Full Keyboard Access.

You'll also notice that while the new Activity Center doesn't lose any details, it is a lot more compact. Additionally, images and videos now have thumbnails so it's easier to track what changed in the Activity Center.

Next, we have native macOS dialog boxes that show up when providing extra information or requiring user interaction. This should make Mac users feel right at home in OneDrive, rather than it feeling like a shoehorned interface that leverages aesthetics from other platforms.

The good news is that these updates are rolling out right now to Insiders running build 26.017. The bad news is that there is no word yet on general availability, but since these are mostly cosmetic changes, you would hope that the new experience arrives sooner rather than later. For Insiders, the upgrade should happen automatically, as soon as the new experience is seeded to them. Microsoft has encouraged customers to leverage the Send Feedback option available in the Activity Center to file feedback directly to the company.

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Posted Friday 20 February 2026 at 12:11 pm AEST (my time).

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The new hub centralizes controls for speaker, microphone, and camera selection. This gives users a unified workflow for hardware management. It will also give users specific video controls like “Mirror my video” and “Adjust brightness” directly in the primary device panel. The test call feature has also been embedded in the new experience so that users can confirm audio configurations before meetings begin.

The main downside to this move is that users familiar with the existing web interface will now have to learn the new layout just to perform routine tasks such as switching headsets or toggling cameras. This could be a headache for businesses who may now need to provide some training to familiarize people with the updated interface or assist those struggling to setup peripherals due to unfamiliarity with the updated interface.

For IT support teams, this update means that existing internal screenshots and training manuals for web users will need to be updated. Despite this, the new update will offer a more streamlined experience for users looking to adjust their Teams settings.

Microsoft says that no admin action is needed to trigger the update as it will be enabled by default for everyone worldwide. Organizations should expect the new “Device settings” panel to appear between now and the end of the month. While admins don’t need to take action to enable the feature, internal documentation should be updated immediately to reflect the new navigation path.

To learn more, head over to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center and check message ID MC1234663.

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Posted Friday 20 February 2026 at 4:02 am AEST (my time).

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This option in Teams will be rolling out later this month and it will encourage users to switch to Microsoft Edge by highlighting its Single Sign-On and security features. Even if you do not go searching the settings for this feature, Microsoft will still force you to make a choice the first time you click on a non-Office or PDF link. Users will see a pop-up appear where they can choose another browser for opening these links. Microsoft also said that it is tracking user satisfaction, Microsoft Edge installation rates, and retention.

In a screenshot of this feature, the user is presented with the choice of using Microsoft Edge (even if it is not installed) or their default browser. Interestingly, Microsoft doesn’t like alternatives like Chrome, Firefox, or Vivaldi if they are not installed. If you do press Microsoft Edge and don’t have it installed then Teams will trigger a secondary prompt that will direct you to your app store to install Edge. If you want to change the setting later, head to the “Links in Teams” section within Teams’ settings menu.

Microsoft notes that admins can use PowerShell to manage the availability of this setting in Teams. The LinksInTeams attribute can be changed via the TeamsMobilityPolicy. To stop the prompts and return to standard OS behavior, admins must change the setting from OfferBrowserOptions to UseSystemDefaults.

With this change, users will notice more friction when attempting to access web content. The change will also likely frustrate users who already have a workflow that they’re happy with. While most users will be annoyed by this extra prompt, Microsoft is still keen to track what happens to see whether they can get people to install Edge and stick with it. For organizations, this change is an extra layer of telemetry that they need to look at as it may conflict with existing corporate browser standards.

The rollout is expected to complete by the end of February for worldwide, DoD and GCC customers at the same time. IT departments are told to prepare for helpdesk queries from users who may be confused by the behavior when clicking links. If you want to change this nuisance of a feature, an admin must configure the PowerShell policies before the deadline. If no action in taken, the nag screen will become standard for all Teams users in the organization.

You can learn more in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center under message ID MC1216263.

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Posted Thursday 19 February 2026 at 5:47 pm AEST (my time).

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With today's build 29531.1000, Windows Insiders can switch from the 28000 series to the new one in Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options > Optional updates. Microsoft says this subchannel is focused on platform development changes, so besides stability issues, you may see some features reverted or completely turned off.

According to the announcement post, the change will help Microsoft "experiment, learn quickly, and incorporate feedback before changes move further along in development." That sounds oddly familiar to the Skip Ahead channel that Microsoft used to have in the days of "rings," particularly Fast Ring, Slow Ring, and more. Here is how the company describes its intentions:

As part of this ongoing development, Canary Channel will move forward on two update paths. This will help us validate platform changes at different stages while continuing to deliver new features and experiences to Insiders in the Canary channel.

Speaking of changes, only one thing is mentioned in the release notes:

• This update includes platform changes in moving to a new active development build.

You can read the announcement blog post for Windows 11 build 29531.1000 on the official website here.

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Posted Thursday 19 February 2026 at 1:09 pm AEST (my time).

News posts: 2023 5,800+ | 2024 5,700+ | 2025 5,700+ | 2026 (to end of January) 461

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This week, Apple released the first developer betas for iOS 26.4, iPadOS 26.4, macOS 26.4, and its other operating systems. On Tuesday, it followed those up with public beta versions of the same updates.

Usually released around the midpoint between one major iOS release and the next, the *.4 updates to its operating system usually include a significant batch of new features and other refinements, and if the first beta is any indication, this year’s releases uphold that tradition.

A new “Playlist Playground” feature will let Apple Music subscribers generate playlists with text prompts, and native support for video podcasts is coming to the Podcasts app. The Creator Studio version of the Freeform drawing and collaboration app is also available in the 26.4 updates, allowing subscribers to access stock images from Apple’s Content Hub and to insert AI-generated images.

But we’ve spent time digging through the betas to identify some of the more below-the-surface improvements and changes that Apple is testing. Some of these changes won’t come to the public versions of the software until a later release; others may be removed or changed between now and when the 26.4 update is made available to the general public. But generally, Apple’s betas give us a good idea of what the final release will look like.

One feature that hasn’t appeared in these betas? The new “more intelligent Siri” that Apple has been promising since the iOS 18 launch in 2024. Apple delayed the feature until sometime in 2026, citing that it wasn’t meeting the company’s standards for quality and reliability.

Reports indicated that the company had been planning to make the new Siri part of the 26.4 update, but as of earlier this month, Apple has reportedly decided to push it to the 26.5 release or later; even releasing it as part of iOS 27 in the fall would technically not run afoul of the “2026” promise.

Before we begin, the standard warning about installing beta software on hardware you rely on day to day. Although these point updates are generally more stable than the major releases Apple tests in the summer and fall, they can still contain major bugs and may cause your device to behave strangely. The first beta, in particular, tends to be the roughest—more stable versions will be released in the coming weeks, and we should see the final version of the update within the next couple months.

Charging limits for MacBooks

The macOS 26.4 update includes a slider for manually limiting your Mac’s battery charge percentage.

Credit: Andrew Cunningham

In macOS 11 Big Sur, Apple added an on-by-default “Optimized Battery Charging” toggle to the operating system that would allow macOS to limit your battery’s charge percentage to 80 percent based on your usage and charging behavior. The idea is to limit the time your battery spends charging while full, something that can gradually reduce its capacity.

The macOS 26.4 update adds a new slider similar to the one in iOS, further allowing users to manually specify a maximum charge limit that is always observed, no matter what. It’s adjustable in 5 percent increments from 80 to 100 percent.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that limiting your charge percentage can lengthen the useful life of your battery and reduce wear, but there’s nothing that will fully prevent a battery from wearing out and losing capacity over time. It’s up to users to decide whether an immediately noticeable everyday hit to battery life is worth a slightly longer service life.

In the current macOS betas, enabling a charge limit manually doesn’t disable the Optimized Battery Charging feature the way it does in iOS. It’s unclear if this is an early bug or an intentional difference in how the feature is implemented in macOS.

End-to-end encryption (and other improvements) for non-Apple texting

Apple has been infamously slow to adopt support for the Rich Communication Services (RCS) messaging protocol used by most modern Android phones. Apple-to-Apple messaging was handled using iMessage, which supports end-to-end encryption among many other features. But for many years, it stuck by the aging SMS standard for “green bubble” texting between Apple’s platforms and others, to the enduring frustration of anyone with a single Android-using friend in a group chat.

Apple finally began supporting RCS messaging for major cellular carriers in iOS 18, and has slowly expanded support to other networks in subsequent releases. But Apple’s implementation still doesn’t support end-to-end encryption, which was added to the RCS standard about a year ago.

The 26.4 update is the first to begin testing encryption for RCS messages. But as with the initial RCS rollout, Apple is moving slowly and deliberately: for now, encrypted RCS messaging only works when texting between Apple devices, and not between Apple devices and Android phones. The feature also won’t be included in the final 26.4 release—it’s only included in the betas for testing purposes, and it “will be available to customers in a future software update for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS.”

Encrypted iMessage and RCS chats will be labeled with a lock icon, much like how most web browsers label HTTPS sites.

To support encrypted messaging, Apple will jump from version 2.4 of the RCS Universal Profile to version 3.0. This should also enable support for several improvements in versions 2.5, 2.6, and 2.7 of the RCS standard, including previously iMessage-exclusive things like editing and recalling messages and replying to specific messages inline.

The return of the “Compact” Safari tab bar

The Compact tab view returns to Safari 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4.

Credit: Andrew Cunningham

As part of the macOS 12 Monterey/iPadOS 15 beta cycle in 2021, Apple attempted a pretty radical redesign of the Safari browser that combined your tabs and the address bar into one, with the goal of increasing the amount of viewable space on the pages you were viewing. By the time both operating systems were released to the public, Safari’s default design had more or less reverted to its previous state, but the “compact” tab view lived on as an optional view in the settings for those who liked it.

Tahoe, the Safari 26 update, and iPadOS 26 all removed that Compact view entirely, though a version of the Compact view became the default for the iPhone version of Safari. The macOS 26.4, Safari 26.4, and iPadOS 26.4 updates restore the Compact tab option to the other versions of Safari.

On-by-default Stolen Device Protection

Originally introduced in the iOS 17.3 update, Apple’s “Stolen Device Protection” toggle for iPhones added an extra layer of security for users whose phones were stolen by people who had learned their passcodes. With Stolen Device Protection enabled, an iPhone that had been removed from “familiar locations, such as home or work” would require biometric Face ID or Touch ID authentication before accessing stored passwords and credit cards, erasing your phone, or changing Apple Account passwords. Normally, users can enter their passcodes as a fallback; Stolen Device Protection removes that fallback.

The iOS 26.4 update will make Stolen Device Protection on by default. Generally, you won’t notice a difference in how your phone behaves, but if you’re traveling or away from places where you regularly use your phone and you can’t use your passcode to access certain information, this is why.

It’s possible to switch off Stolen Device protection, but doing so requires biometric authentication, an hour-long wait, and then a second biometric authentication. (This extended wait is also required for disabling Find My, changing your phone’s passcode, or changing Touch ID and Face ID settings.)

Rosetta’s end approaches

The macOS 26.4 update will add the first user-facing notifications about the end of Rosetta support, currently slated for macOS 28 in 2027.

Credit: Andrew Cunningham

Apple’s Rosetta 2 was a crucial support beam in the bridge from the Intel Mac era to the Apple Silicon era, enabling unmodified Intel-native apps to run on the M1 and later processors, with noticeable but manageable performance and responsiveness hits. As with the original Rosetta, it allowed Apple to execute a major CPU architecture switch while keeping it mostly invisible to Mac users, and it bought developers time to release Arm-native versions of their apps so they could take full advantage of the new chips.

But now that the transition is complete and the last Intel Macs are fading into the rearview, Apple plans to remove the translation layer from future versions of macOS, with some exceptions for games that rely on the technology.

Rosetta 2 won’t be completely removed until macOS 28, but macOS 26.4 will be the first to begin warning users about the end of Rosetta when they launch Intel-native apps. Those notifications link to an Apple support page about identifying and updating Intel-only apps to Apple Silicon-native versions (or universal binaries that support both architectures).

Apple has deployed this “adding notifications without removing functionality” approach to deprecating older apps before. Versions 10.13 and 10.14 of macOS would show users pop-ups about the end of support for 32-bit apps for a couple of years before that support was removed in macOS 10.15, for example.

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Posted Thursday 19 February 2026 at 1:07 pm AEST (my time).

News posts: 2023 5,800+ | 2024 5,700+ | 2025 5,700+ | 2026 (to end of January) 461

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At the same time of year, every year, you can expect to see Google and Apple host an event where they will talk about what's coming next for their respective platforms. These events usually take place in May and June, at each company's respective developer conferences.

This has been the case for years at this point, and it means people know when they'll learn more about what's next for Android, iOS, and macOS. If you're a fan of either platform or technology in general, you already know that May and June are going to be exciting months.

It's a seemingly unspoken rule in the tech space. Neither Google nor Apple ever confirms their plans to announce the next version of anything in May or June ahead of time, but everybody knows that this is when it will happen every year, and so far, that has been the case without fail.

Unfortunately for us, one tech company has seemingly bailed on this idea, and that's Microsoft. The last major Windows event was in 2024, and before that, it was 2021 with the Windows 11 debut event. Before that, it was in 2019 with the Windows 10X unveiling.

The problem is that Microsoft isn't very consistent with its Windows events. They certainly aren't annual, and they seemingly happen at random points in the year when they do. The Windows 11 launch event was in June, the Copilot+ PC launch event was in May, and the Windows 10X launch event was in November.

Microsoft used to have an annual Windows event. It was part of Build, its yearly developer conference that started in 2011. Similarly to Google I/O and Apple WWDC, Microsoft Build was the event of the year for hearing about what's next for the OS. That was until around 2017, when Build evolved into an Azure and IT professional event, and now these days there's hardly any Windows news at all.

I honestly believe that Microsoft's decision to pull away from an annual, consistent Windows event has severely damaged the fanbase that surrounds it. Windows fans don't really exist these days, not like Android, iOS, and macOS fans do, at least, and that's solely on Microsoft for failing to appease them.

Microsoft veteran Dave W. Plummer (perhaps better recognized as Dave's Garage across social media) is known across the Windows ecosystem for his contributions to the Task Manager, Calculator, and even pinball, among many others.

The engineer-turned-YouTuber has shared interesting stories about his time at the tech giant, including the time he almost got fired for adding ZIP file support to Windows over 30 years ago. While Plummer left Microsoft in 2003 before the release of Windows Vista, his creative juices continue to flow.

Plummer created the Task Manager for Windows, and even made a sweeping declaration on Reddit that "there should be nothing that TaskMgr can't kill." The Task Manager has evolved over the years, but he shared a concept showing how it might look today if he were still designing it (via PCGamer).

Dave shared the concept via his X account, which featured a modern dashboard for his own Tempest AI. "This is probably what Task Manager would look like (and sound like) if I were still around," added Plummer. "Which is why it's a good thing I knew to stay in my lane, design-wise :-)"

Microsoft is working on a bunch of new features for Windows 11, including a new network speed test that you can access from your taskbar. The tool is bundled in an update rolling out to Windows 11 Insiders in the Release Preview Channel, allowing you to right-click the network icon in the system tray to access a speed test option that opens in your default browser.

From there, you can check how fast your connection is over Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or cellular data. Microsoft first started testing this feature last year, and it could offer a convenient alternative to checking your connection speed by navigating to third-party websites.

There’s also a new camera settings option coming to the Settings menu, giving you the ability to control the pan and tilt for supported cameras (though Microsoft doesn’t say which devices work with the new feature). Microsoft is adding new emoji to Windows 11, too, a full-page Widget settings menu, and the ability to set .webp files as your desktop background.

You can check out the update via the Release Preview Channel. It’s rolling out now to Windows 11 versions 24H2 (Build 26100) and 25H2 (Build 26200).

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Posted Thursday 19 February 2026 at 5:49 am AEST (my time).

News posts: 2023 5,800+ | 2024 5,700+ | 2025 5,700+ | 2026 (to end of January) 461

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MIDI 2.0 offers several improvements over its predecessor, including, but not limited to, bidirectional communication, automatic device discovery and protocol setup, uncapped speeds, intentional high-resolution controllers, per-note articulation, self-describing devices, and more. Although it is a major upgrade, it is still important to support MIDI 1.0 for backward compatibility reasons.

This is why Microsoft has implemented its Windows MIDI Services stack, which includes a rebuild of MIDI 1.0 support to modernize it, while also offering support for MIDI 2.0. This combined stack is native in Windows 11 and we already know that Microsoft began previewing it in the Canary build 27788 which began rolling out a couple of weeks ago.

The new MIDI infrastructure in Windows includes support for "multi-client", which enables multiple apps to use the same MIDI port/device at the same time. That means that you no longer need to rely on vendor-specific drivers to achieve the same purpose. Furthermore, MIDI 1.0 now has better port names, and also introduces additional metadata for endpoints. All of this can be configured through the MIDI Settings app, which will be available as an optional download soon.

Other enhancements include:

• Connecting apps with built-in loopback and app-to-app MIDI
• Using any device with any app with automatic MIDI 2.0 translation and scaling
• Getting tighter message timings with timestamps and scheduled messages
• Using new devices with the new MIDI 1.0 and MIDI 2.0 USB class driver
• Tools and MIDI scripting

Of course, this is only a summary of some of the advancements in the Windows MIDI stack, and if you're a true audiophile or a musician, we would highly encourage you to check our Microsoft's detailed blog post.

Microsoft's focus with building the MIDI stack this time around is to implement it in the "open", where it can get direct feedback from the community. As such, it has offered a public GitHub repository where you can contribute and also set up a Discord server for active collaboration and discussions.

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Posted Wednesday 18 February 2026 at 5:47 pm AEST (my time).

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Outage tracker Downdetector showed 321,958 reports of YouTube issues in the US. The disruption also appeared to expand into related services, with 8,923 reports for YouTube TV and 2,694 reports for Google around the same time.

Based on reports across social media, users are facing different errors:

• YouTube loads, but the home feed is blank or partially broken.
• The app throws a “Something went wrong” error.
• Some embedded videos may still play, while direct viewing fails.

The YouTube team confirmed that they are aware of the ongoing issues accessing YouTube and they will provide updates as soon as they have them.

If you’re having trouble accessing YouTube right now, you’re not alone — our teams are looking into this and will follow up here with updates: https://t.co/7iTU5S9AgT

 

— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) February 18, 2026

We will update the post as we receive updates from YouTube.

EDIT 1: Article updates...

Update 1:

The YouTube team provided an update stating that their recommendation system caused the aforementioned problems. This particular issue prevented videos from appearing across various YouTube surfaces, including the homepage, the mobile app, YouTube Music, and YouTube Kids. While they have now deployed a fix and the YouTube homepage is back up and running for most users, the team is still working on a full resolution.

Update 2:

YouTube team also confirmed that a small number of users are unable to login to YouTube TV. They are working to fix this issue as well.

Update 3:

YouTube team has now confirmed that the issue with the recommendations system has been resolved and YouTube service on YouTube.com, the YouTube app, YouTube Music, Kids, and TV are working as expected.

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Posted Wednesday 18 February 2026 at 12:35 pm AEST (my time).

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The build is light on new features, with most changes focused on reliability improvements. The only novelty is a new Microsoft 365 upgrade prompt for Family plan subscribers, which appears on the Accounts page in the Settings app and can be dismissed by turning off suggested content in Settings.

Here's what's new in this build:

[Account Settings]

• Microsoft 365 Family subscribers will find an option to upgrade to a different 365 plan on the Accounts page within the Settings app. Users can also remove the upgrade option by turning off suggested content in settings.

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7859 also fixes several known issues from the previous versions. Here's what's fixed:

[Taskbar]

• Improved reliability of showing app icons in the system tray when the taskbar was set to autohide.

[File Explorer]

• Addressed an issue where all File Explorer open windows and tabs might unexpectedly jump to Desktop or Home.

[Nearby Sharing]

• Improved the reliability of sending larger files using Nearby Sharing.

[Settings]

• Improved reliability of configuring options in Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Wheel.

No major known issues were highlighted in the announcement, though as always with Insider builds, stability is not guaranteed and bugs may still surface.

Not all Beta Channel users will receive these changes at the same time. Microsoft is rolling them out gradually, starting with Insiders who have enabled the toggle to get the latest updates as they become available under Settings > Windows Update.

You can find the full Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7859 (KB5077223) changelog on Microsoft's blog.

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Posted Wednesday 18 February 2026 at 12:34 pm AEST (my time).

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Edge 145 has been released under build number 145.0.3800.58. In fact, Microsoft started rolling it out earlier this week. However, as it usually goes, the rollout is gradual, and Microsoft only now published the changelog.

With Edge version 145, Microsoft updated the built-in password manager to better detect domain names. It can now group related domains together, thanks to the new affiliation service. This will make sure the browser suggests the right credentials when visiting related domains, say account.microsoft.com and office.microsoft.com. This should make the sign-in experience more seamless. Just keep in mind that the feature is rolling out gradually.

Speaking of autofill, Microsoft Edge can now prompt you to save your address when filling out a form so that you can quickly paste it next time you need to enter your address details.

In addition to better credential and address handling, Microsoft Edge is now better at working with progressive web apps or PWAs. The browser can now decide whether it should open the installed progressive web app or launch a new browser tab.

There is also a refreshed profile flyout that lets you better distinguish personal accounts from work accounts, built-in protection from sideloaded malicious extensions, and performance improvements for Read Aloud in PDFs. Microsoft says the latter now takes less time to start, and the feature is overall more reliable. For now, Read Aloud improvements only apply to the PDF viewer.

Finally, Microsoft resolved two security vulnerabilities. One is coming from Google Chrome, and it is marked as a high-severity priviledge escalation vulnerability under CVE-2026-26119. Also, there is a Microsoft Edge-specific security fix for CVE-2026-0102, a vulnerability that could trigger data autofill and potentially disclose sensitive data.

If you are still on Edge 144, you can update your browser by heading to edge://settings/help. Full release notes are available here.

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Posted Wednesday 18 February 2026 at 12:32 pm AEST (my time).

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Here is the changelog:

• [Emoji] New! The Emoji 16.0 release introduces a small, thoughtfully curated set of new emojis, one from each major category. These new emojis now appear in the emoji panel.
• [Backup & Restore] New! The first sign-in restore experience is now part of Windows Backup for Organizations, bringing this restore capability to more device types. This experience restores user settings and Microsoft Store apps automatically at first sign-in on Microsoft Entra hybrid joined devices, Cloud PCs, and multi‑user environments. This capability helps create a consistent setup process during device refreshes, upgrades, or migrations.
• [Quick Machine Recovery] New! Quick Machine Recovery (QMR) now turns on automatically for Windows Professional devices that are not domain‑joined and not enrolled in enterprise endpoint management. These devices receive the same recovery features available to Windows Home users. For domain‑joined or enterprise-managed devices, QMR stays off unless it is enabled by the organization.
• [Taskbar & System Tray]
  • New! A built‑in network speed test is now available from the taskbar. Open it from the Wi‑Fi or Cellular Quick Settings, or by right-clicking the network icon in the system tray. The speed test opens in the default browser and measures Ethernet, Wi‑Fi, and Cellular connections. This feature helps check network performance and troubleshoot issues.
  • Improved: When your taskbar is set to uncombined, if you have an app open with many windows, they will no longer all move as a set to the overflow area when there is not enough space on the taskbar, and instead only the ones specifically within the set that don’t have space. With this change, the overflow area should no longer appear to display with lots of available space.
• [Accounts] New! A new entry point in the account menu on the Start menu now directs you to the benefits page (https://account.microsoft.com/). This update makes it easier to explore and manage the benefits associated with your Microsoft account.
• [Identity & Access Management] New! Windows now supports Microsoft Entra ID group and role SID resolution. This update enables Windows to translate Entra cloud group and role security identifiers (SIDs) to readable names, allowing Entra-only groups to be used and displayed correctly in file permissions, local group membership, and access control scenarios without relying on on‑premises or hybrid Active Directory identities.
• [Camera Settings] New! You can now control pan and tilt for supported cameras in the Settings app. The controls appear under Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Cameras, in the “Basic settings” section for your selected camera.
• [Built-in Sysmon] New! Windows now brings Sysmon functionality natively to Windows. Sysmon functionality allows you to capture system events that can help with threat detection, and you can use custom configuration files to filter the events you want to monitor. The captured events are written on the Windows event log, enabling them to be used with security applications and a wide range of use cases.
  • Built-in Sysmon is disabled by default and must be explicitly enabled. Go to Settings > System > Optional features > More Windows features > checking Sysmon or in PowerShell or command prompt:
  • Dism /Online /Enable-Feature /FeatureName:Sysmon
  • To complete the installation, from PowerShell or the command prompt, run: sysmon -i
  • Note: If you’ve already installed Sysmon from the website, it must be uninstalled before enabling the built-in Sysmon.
• [Widgets] New! Widget Settings now opens as a full‑page experience in the Widgets app instead of opening in a dialog.
• [Desktop Background] New! You can now set .webp image files as your desktop background in Settings > Personalization > Background, as well as when right-clicking the image in File Explorer.
• [Search] Improved: Updated icon for the search process in Task Manager to now show a magnifying glass.
• [Storage Settings]
  • Improved: Updated some of the dialogs in Storage Settings to have a more modern design.
  • Improved the performance of scanning for temporary files.
• [Windows Update Settings] Improves the responsiveness of the settings page.
• [Login and lock screens] Improves the login screen reliability.
• [Nearby Sharing] Improves the reliability of sending larger files.
• [Projecting] Improves the reliability of displaying the project pane after pressing the Windows key plus P.
• [Printing] Improves the Windows print service (spoolsv.exe) to ensure smoother performance and prevent slowdowns during high‑volume printing.
• [File Explorer]
  • Improved: Added the extract all option to the File Explorer command bar when browsing non-ZIP archive folders.
  • Fixed: Holding Shift and clicking the File Explorer in the taskbar, or middle clicking, might open the current instance of File Explorer rather than another instance.
  • Improved reliability of displaying devices on the Network page of File Explorer.
• [Display]
  • Improved: Made display-related performance improvements to help reduce PC resume-from-sleep time on heavily loaded systems and other scenarios.
  • Improved: For laptops used with a docking station while the lid is closed, improved reliability of resuming from sleep when connecting to AC power, without needing to open the laptop lid.
• [Other] Addressed a few small visual issues, including when the taskbar was set to autohide, with the Windows Security pop-up credentials fields, and with the print dialog.

You can find the announcement blog post here.

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Posted Wednesday 18 February 2026 at 12:31 pm AEST (my time).

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Here is what is new:

• Bug fixes included.
• Updated the Install Shield software version.
• This package doesn’t include the AMS Mailbox driver and the S0i3 filter driver support.

New drivers in the update include the following:

Here is the list of known issues:

• After installing the AMD Chipset Installer version “7.xx.xx.xx”, users cannot install version “6.xx.xx.xx” or earlier. Workaround:
  • Uninstall the latest version of the AMD Chipset installer (version 7.xx.xx.xx or later).
  • Delete the “Qt_Dependencies” folder located at "C:\Program Files (x86)\AMD\Chipset_Software\".
  • Install any older version of the AMD Chipset installer (version 6.xx.xx.xx or earlier).
• On a non-English OS, some driver names may appear in English. 
• Occasionally, Ryzen PPKG may not install or upgrade.
• The AMS and S0i3 filter driver has issues on non-English OS

You can download AMD's latest chipset driver for supported Ryzen, Threadripper, and Athlon processors from the official website. Release notes are available on the same page.

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Posted Wednesday 18 February 2026 at 12:29 pm AEST (my time).

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Mozilla recently updated its official support document and clarified that the company is ending Firefox 115 ESR later this year. Once February 2026 is over, there will be no more security updates for those still on pre-Windows 10 releases:

Firefox 115 is now the last version supported on Windows 7, 8 and 8.1. Updates will be delivered through the ESR channel until the end of February 2026. After that, users should upgrade their operating system to continue receiving Firefox security and feature updates.

Before that, the support document would only show an estimated end of support as "~February 2026," indicating possible reevaluation. Now, it seems like Mozilla has decided and is ready to put Firefox 115 ESR to bed.

Firefox 115 arrived in July 2023. It was officially the final Firefox release to support Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1. Initially, Mozilla planned to support the browser until September 2024. However, since then, the company postponed its plans to kill Firefox 115 ESR twice: once in September 2024 and once in February 2025. Back then, Mozilla said it had plenty of users to justify the cost of keeping Firefox 115 ESR alive and kicking.

Unless Mozilla changes its mind for the third time, those still sticking to Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 should consider other options, including updating to now-unsupported Windows 10 (bear in mind that the free upgrade route is now closed), where Firefox, Chrome, Edge, and other mainstream browsers continue getting new features, security updates, and more.

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Posted Wednesday 18 February 2026 at 12:28 pm AEST (my time).

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Above everything else, Microsoft has emphasized that security is a priority which takes precedence over feature development. This is in line with an announcement that Redmond made back in 2024, when it said that security will be the top priority for the firm moving forward. Apart from that, the firm will be prioritizing the patching of critical issues reported by the community.

In 2026, Microsoft will be pouring its efforts into PowerShell 7.7, which will bring several improvements. For starters, PowerShell stores user content such as modules and profiles in the Documents folder by default, which doesn't result in a great experience since many users sync this directory with OneDrive. Microsoft published details of a design change in 2025, and it will be implementing this in an early preview of PowerShell 7.7 this year. This is a big change because it can break existing solutions, so the idea is to cause minimum disruption.

This release of PowerShell will also see the ability to load modules and register features without updating the profile script. Other enhancements include delayed update notifications to accommodate package managers, support for aliases and macros in the style of Bash, and the implementation of a dedicated MCP server.

Meanwhile, the PSReadLine module will get context-aware predictive IntelliSense. A big update coming to the module will also decouple the keyboard input reading process from terminal rendering. The benefits of this design change will not be immediately visible to users, but Microsoft promises that it will make things a lot easier for future enhancements.

Switching gears to Windows OpenSSH, Microsoft is considering the addition of support for EntraID authentication in its fork. Other enhancements planned for 2026 are summarized below:

• PowerShellGallery/PSResourceGet
  • Complete Microsoft Artifact Registry (MAR) migration
  • Concurrency and performance improvements
  • General improvements to reliability, scalability, and security
• Desired State Configuration v3 (DSC)
  • General availability of version 3.2
  • Python adapter to create DSC resources in Linux usage scenarios
  • Work on version 3.3 will kick off

While all of this is exciting stuff, it will be interesting to see if Microsoft can accomplish all of its goals set for these tools in 2026.

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Posted Wednesday 18 February 2026 at 12:27 pm AEST (my time).

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I didn't sign up for an AI subscription, but my bills say otherwise. We're all living in an AI shakedown where even if you avoid AI entirely, you still pay the price. You, me, and your grandparent who doesn't even own a smartphone are all subsidizing the AI industry.

I'm sick of notifications and emails about price increases. That, and I'm also sick of people shouting, "If you don't like AI, just don't use it". You may not use AI, but you're paying for it, both literally and figuratively.

Every day, expenses are increasing, and devices that have nothing to do with AI are going up in price. Sure, it's possible to avoid using Copilot in Microsoft Paint or use DuckDuckGo's AI-free search engine to bypass Google AI Overviews, but the effects of AI are encompassing and growing.

For a moment, I'm going to put aside the fact that consumers don't care about AI PCs and that people don't pay for Microsoft's AI products. I'll take it as a given that some people genuinely use AI in one form or another and that AI is here to stay.

My question is: Should all of society have to pay an AI tax?

Demand for AI has driven up the cost of RAM. In turn, much of the best tech on the horizon is being pushed back. The Steam Machine is delayed, the Steam Deck is out of stock, and the PlayStation 6 could launch as late as 2029 — all because of AI.

On top of paying a metaphorical price, people are also paying a literal price because of AI. GPUs, SSDs, software subscriptions, and cloud computing have all increased in price at least in part due to AI. But it's not just gadget lovers who have to pay the AI tax.